This blog is mainly about the spectacular train wreck at The Sacramento Bee and its parent company, the McClatchy Company. But I also post about current events, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, politics, anything else that grabs my attention. Take a look around this blog, hope you enjoy it.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Time to exit

I've wrestled for the past 2 weeks whether to keep blogging, and decided it's time to quit McClatchy Watch. I have more responsibilities at work, and I have plans for more time with my family. I need a break, too. No, this won't be a temporary break; I don't plan to start blogging again.

There is a definite demand for newspaper watchdog blogs. McClatchy has over 9,000 employees and I know from my stats that tons of them checked in here on a regular basis. My traffic also benefited from people -- plenty of them -- fascinated by the decline happening in the newspaper business. Somewhere a blog will rise to meet the thirst for information.

Coincidentally, Jim Hopkins started Gannett Blog the same month I started McClatchy Watch. I consider it a minor achievement that I outlasted Jim by a few months. But Jim now says he might restart the blog.

Newspaper watchdog bloggers will mostly be hobbyists who don't do it for the money. For the past several months I have averaged 2,000 hits on weekdays, about half that on weekends. Not bad for this little blog but not a solid business model -- my monthly income from this blog was never more than about one sixth of my mortgage payment.

Publishing this blog has been fun and rewarding. Many thanks are in order. I appreciate, more than I can say, my readers, especially those who posted comments, who emailed me with tips and articles and personal stories. Thanks also to the other bloggers who linked here.

I might post a handful of times between now and Friday but the shutdown has started.

There are many good people who work hard for their families in the McClatchy group. No agendas, just hard work to pay mortgages and feed their family. And I'm one of them. I work for the KC Star. I certainly don't always agree with the powers that be, but I'm grateful to be employed in this economy. Merry Christmas.

Didn't always agree with views here (I don't buy into the whole liberal/conservative BS since both parties are controlled and influenced by the same corporate banks) but in support of the first amendment and alternative sources in news it's important to support voices like this.

I think McClatchy's fate is probably sealed regardless. Newspapers in print are dying a slow painful death. We all slow down to see the car wrecks but you keep driving and focus your attention back to the road. Moving on is not a bad idea. Good luck and Godspeed.

..Kevin, you will be missed ! It was not a thankless job, I thanked you every time I opened up your blog, which was almost every day. I hope you prosper and I admire your evenhandedness and honesty. -Dave Dudley

I hate it when bloggers do this. I've been following this blog for a year and appreciate the hard work. I just wish you would slow down to a post a week or something rather than disappearing. Nevertheless, thanks for shining some light on the corrupt enterprise which is McClatchy.

Drat. I thought a good time to close the blog would be when McClatchy declared bankruptcy.

I'm another reader who disagrees with the politics of this blog, but as an inside source of information on the company, McClatchy Watch is invaluable. Very sorry to see you leave; but good luck with all your future endeavors.

No! You may not shut down. If doctors are going to be forced to care for patients and if I am going to be forced to pay those doctors to treat those patients, then you can damn well keep this blog going.

While I wasn't one of those commie hating posters, I do hope Obama just goes away and I did very much appreciate the McClatchy news and views. I'd like to think McClatchy management got educated visiting this site and now know how they are unfavorably viewed by employees and the public. They desperately need a public relations overhaul.

Super sad to see you go. Wishing you and yours nothing but the best during the holidays and beyond. Thanks for all that you did for those of us who wished to know what the buffoons in Sacramento were up to

Sad to see you go. I thought you would outlast McCrappy News. I stop in a couple times a week. I too was one of the many McClatchy gave the boot to. It turned out well for me as I was able to go back to school and get the education I needed to change careers. I was recently hired by a local winery (second largest in the U.S.) and it looks promising for the future. Thanks again for (as Paul Harvey would say) the rest of the story. Maybe as a final farewell, you could give us a few highlights of the past year on your blog and some links we could go to for our media insider fix.

While the conservative tone of this blog and many of its commentors irritate me, I do appreciate the insight of McClatchy Watch. I thank you for the service you provided and hope that things get better for McClatchy. I can't say I agree with everything you've posted, but I'm glad I stumbled upon this page. Good luck.

You're doing it right. Going out on a high note leaving them wanting more.

If you feel like leaving your personal history/legacy in the hands of someone else, fine, but I wouldn't.

Let someone start up something new if they want to. They are being selfish with your time suggesting you keep it going for them. It's not that hard to start something new. It just requires diligence you showed and some work and dedication.

Don't cave. Enjoy your next chapter.Happiest of holidays to you and I wish you a prosperous new year.

I can so, so relate to your decision! I shut down Gannett Blog in July, when health problems made it impossible to continue. But now, even though I'm fully back on my feet, considering a restart of my blog wasn't easy.

Thank you for this blog...I jumped ship in the last buyout from The Bee and used your blog, as some other newspaper blogs to supplement my decision. Best move I have made, and I wanted to thank you personally. Merry Christmas!

Your talents and passion are commendable. I wish more people had the dedication to keep blogs like this up and going. Apparently, blogs are as time consuming and even less profitable than newspapers. Blogging is extreme democracy in action, not to be confused with journalism.

As a reporter myself, I much appreciate your work in giving the other side of the story most of the media won't tell. One doesn't have to agree with all the political views expressed in this blog to find it of great value, like I have. Merry Christmas and, Happy New Year's.

Thanks. I enjoyed reading all the comments. The good and the bad. Good luck to you and your family. I will miss this site. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope this is a good year for the newspaper industry.

With E&P closing and most other media sites just aggregators, it's going to be impossible to find out what is going on. The NYT and LAT, which used to cover media developments have become disappointments (though I like Carr's essays). Best wishes.

I really enjoyed the blog for several months. I feel like it eventually became a place for people to root for the demise of the paper, which I feel is absurd since it is the employees who would be hurt most by that.It's also ironic that the newspapers seem to be outlasting the blogs that predicted their deaths.But all the best to you. Hope the New Year is a good one.

"Thank You" for all I have learned about the newspaper business. I am just an old fart reader of the Bee over the years and have watched it degenerate from OK/biased to disasterous/DNC mouthpiece. You turned me on to many other interesting sites with your cross links.

May you have much success and enjoyment in your new ventures. I will miss your insights and efforts. I have learned a lot from you and appreciate you immensely.

Like many others, I didn't buy into the whole liberal v. conservative comments, but otherwise I took away much from this blog, so thanks so much for that. And I certainly can't begrudge you for your decision.

I worked in the news biz for 20-plus years before being cast aside by my former newspaper over a year ago, along with many others. I've moved on, but you helped me stay informed about many issues that I still care about, and always will.

I'm late to the ballgame, but wanted to say great job and that you'll be missed. You became daily reading and did a great job exposing the utter nonsense at McClatchy (and McClatchy Interactive, the very dishonest operation where I used to work). Happy 2010

Guess this site is pretty dead. That's sad because three weeks ago we find out douche bag Pruitt got himself a nice bonus (all those stock options) and today Jan 11, 2010 they start another round of lay-offs.

...Cest fini. It was a good run, but, it's over. I miss it and come back here often to see if Kevin has had a change of heart, but no. It is over. We can only appreciate it for what it was ; The best newspaper critique there ever was. ...Cest fini.

Novelty Song About the Newspaper Business that is Making Waves AcrossIntenet and soon to air on NPR, if they will have me on: the lyrics... See Moremention Bill Keller, Ben Bradlee, Maureen Dowd, Alex Beam and NeilSteinberg and have already started making the rounds online. All infun of course.

I think you know Bill Keller tooHe runs the Times and knows old from new -- (media that is)Maureen Dowd to the left of him, Dave Brooks to the rightIf it's fit to print, it's in the New York Times tonight!

O life is just one long newspaper caperI just can't live without my daily snailpaper"Crash blossoms" here and small typos thereO where would I be without my dear snailpaper?

Now there's Alex Beam at the Boston GlobeHe doesn't pull punches and he's really quite boldThe son of a diplomat, he's travelled -- literally -- the Globe!The Globe is a snailpaper that'll never grow old

O life is just one long newspaper caperI just can't live without my daily snailpaper"Crash blossoms" here atomic typos thereO where would I be without my dear snailpaper?

In Chicago, there's Steinberg, Neil with a hatHe's a serious writer who never falls flatSnailpapers help the Windy City unwindMy kind of town, what a newpaper mine!

O life is just one long newspaper caperI just can't live without my daily snailpaper"Crash blossoms" here atomic typos thereO where would I be without my dear snailpaper?

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